1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatus for picking fruit from a tree or the like upon which the fruit is grown, and more particularly, to such an apparatus having a staggered arrangement of finger members to effect twisting of the fruit relative its stem during picking thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of apparatus for picking or harvesting fruit from trees or the like are known in the art. Early types of fruit picking machines were of the vibratory type including power driven means for shaking the tree or branches thereof to free the fruit for accummulation by a separate harvester. These vibratory types are undesirable because they induce damage to the trees and/or fruit to be picked. Improved fruit picker machines include a picking head to be positioned proximate the tree for contact with the fruit by picking devices which contact the fruit and cause separation thereof from the tree. Examples of the latter type of apparatus are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,404,521, 3,522,696 and 3,651,627. In each of these patents, the fruit picking apparatus includes a picking head with finger or tine members to contact the fruit and free the same from the tree branches. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,627, the head is caused to vibrate while the tines contact the fruit; the disadvantages of the earlier known vibrators are not completely eliminated by this device. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,522,696 a harvesting apparatus is moved past the tree having the fruit to be picked while tines come in contact therewith. The structure of this patent is such that the fruit is torn from its branches with the disadvantage that the fruit itself may be damaged in the picking operation. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,404,521, a picking head is rotated among the branches of a fruit tree; finger members contact the fruit to pull the same from its branches. The structure of this patent requires fingers which are movable relative to the drum on which they are mounted requiring a complex arrangement of parts with attendant disadvantages.